Sport Relief 2014
Calling all students and staff - Join in the one mile walk/run on 21st March at lunchtime. Why not make it a form group challenge and get your form tutor involved? Run alone or with friends – 3 legged perhaps. Maybe in a onesie?
KS3 students should meet at 1.25 in the sports hall and KS4 and 5 meet at 1.30 on the ATF with your £1 entry fee which will go to Sport Relief. We will have an extended lunch period so there will be plenty of time to complete the mile!


To book tickets for IDance:
Students and Parents need to use Parentpay, for full details see this letter.
For those with no link to the school book your ticket via jbotting@imberhorne.co.uk

Financial Support from the school

The school receives dedicated additional funding to support the education and welfare of disadvantaged and vulnerable students.

Some of this funding is used to provide additional staffing that supports the learning, progress and wellbeing of these students.

The funding is also used to provide a range of financial support that may include:

• Help to meet the cost of school trips
• Help to meet the cost of learning resources, such as revision guides and text books
• Help to meet the cost of uniform
• Help to meet the cost of different types of tuition (music tuition, learning support etc.)

Largely the funding is directed towards students in receipt of free school meals, or those who have previously been eligible for free school meals. We do however look at each case or request independently.

If you think you need such support please contact us in confidence. In the first instance please contact our school Bursar, Mrs J Cooper either by telephone, through the main school switchboard, or by email – jcooper@imberhorne.co.uk

The third session will take place at Windmill Lane on Wednesday 2nd April 2014.When attending this programme please ensure that your daughter has had breakfast that morning and any missed session will be caught up at the Community Health Clinic.

We value open communication with parents and use a range of different methods to communicate as effectively as we can.  This website contains detailed information about the school and its operations, generally most information will be posted here, including all letters that are sent home.

All formal communication about events, trips and activities are communicated in writing; this information will either be posted or sent home with students.  In addition we also email the content of these letters to parents.

Finally we use Twitter and Facebook to post urgent information, knowing that Facebook content is actively ‘pushed out’ to subscribers means we can usually be confident that such messages are disseminated quickly.  Facebook is particularly well suited to celebrating achievements, we therefore also use it to share images of school events, trips and activities, we find that this is much appreciated by students and parents.

For full details of our communications policy see this link.

As the cold weather arrives it seems appropriate to remind you of our school procedures in poor conditions.

If we have extreme weather, usually in the form of heavy snow fall, we have to make an assessment regarding how safe it is for students and staff to access the school.  Firstly we consult with the bus companies to ensure all our main routes are accessible.  If all routes are accessible the school will be open.  If they are not and heavy snowfall has also made the school sites unsafe we will then have to decide if we can reasonably open the school for lessons.  All such communication will always appear on the school website, as well as on our facebook page, we will endeavour to make such messages available as quickly as possible.

In recent years it has become increasingly common for us to experience heavy snowfall at different points during the winter months.  We have planned for this and have amassed significant quantities of grit for footpaths.  We have also invested in mechanised snow ploughs which help us rapidly clear the two school sites.  Our intention is to always manage such emergencies as best we can, making it our absolute priority to remain open at all times.  In the event of a school closure students are asked to check their emails for work set by staff.

I would like to add that during the cold months ahead I encourage students to dress appropriately as they make their way to and from school; principally this should be sensible footwear and a warm coat.

East Grinstead town council are currently undertaking a consultation exercise regarding their proposed Neighbourhood Plan.

We would like to take this opportunity to clarify our thoughts about possible future developments in the town. The school's Windmill Lane site has been identified, along with a number of other sites in East Grinstead, as a potential area that could be developed for housing. Whilst we appreciate that this is unlikely to be a short term outcome it has the potential to ultimately lead to the rebuilding of our lower school (currently at Windmill Lane) as a separate but adjacent school alongside of our existing upper school site at Imberhorne Lane.

Congratulations to our young gardeners supported by Mr Langstone and Mrs Daw.  They feature in a case study recently created on the Royal Horticultural Society website, the article recognises their wonderful achievements both within and beyond the school. 

To see the article please click here.

To accommodate exam timetable changes, the Year 11 Boat Party has unavoidably been moved to the later date of Tuesday 17th June 2014.

We are currently reviewing our e-learning strategy and are looking for parental opinions on a range of e-learning issues. It would be appreciated if you could spare ten minutes to take a brief survey to share your views.

Click here to participate in the e-learning survey.

For a larger version click on an image

We are getting a large number of 'undeliverable' responses when we send out bulk emails, so if you have not received any letters by email so far this term, please contact your son's/daughter's Head of Year to advise/update your email address.

Lessons are available on a wide variety of instruments during the school day at Imberhorne. For drums, piano, and guitar lessons fill out the school application form and for singing, brass, woodwind, strings and guitar go through the West Sussex Music Trust. Please note that guitar is taught both by our school teacher and through county.
If you would like your son or daughter to have lessons see this letter for full details.
Follow this link for the WSCC Application Form and this one for the regulations and conditions covering group lessons.

Possible costs for the start of the Autumn term and beyond
In response to parental requests we have created a summary of possible costs associated with the start of term for students in each year group. Please click here to see the summary sheets. We hope these sheets help you budget appropriately for what we realise can be an expensive point in the year.

Please note that we have shown on these sheets all possible costs, this includes optional trips. These costs will appear on Parent Pay (our on-line payment system) when necessary. Costs associated with the start of term will appear on Parent Pay from September, letters informing parents/carers of when these requested payments are due are usually issued in the first few weeks of term.

We would like to remind parents and carers that the school is able to support anyone who has difficulties making requested payments. Please enquire about such support through the school bursar.